'Government doesn't exist here,' says Rahul Gandhi after meeting Balaghat families who lost children

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (October 1, 2026) accused the Union and Madhya Pradesh governments of abandoning the tribal community without basic facilities, speaking in Balaghat where more than 30 tribal children have died in the past three months due to monsoon-related illnesses, poor immunity, and lack of access to healthcare.

Terming such tragedies a failure of the State's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, Mr. Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said that he would raise the issues of tribals in Parliament.

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"The facilities like health, education, and employment that the government should have provided, have been shut here. It feels as if these people have been left in the middle of India and the Government of India and the Government of Madhya Pradesh are not present here," he said, speaking to reporters after visiting the affected families.

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'Government has disappeared'

Mr. Gandhi said that the government was not providing any support to the people in the area, with regard to land registration, forest rights, or MGNREGA, the rural jobs scheme that has now been replaced by the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission -- Gramin (VB-G RAM G).

The Congress leader, who was on his second visit to the State in two weeks, alleged that half the families who lost their children were yet to receive any compensation from the government. A local woman nodded as he spoke, saying, "[We] haven't received it."

"I want to tell the government to fulfil its responsibility. At least give them their land deed which is their right as per the Forest Rights Act. You changed the name of MGNREGA but at least start it here. Give them the schools and hospitals which they deserve," he said. "Don't know what world you are in. You talk about development 24 hours but corruption happens 24 hours. But when our tribal brothers are in need, you have disappeared," he added.

'Complete government failure'

Mr. Gandhi also alleged that the women in the area face cuts in their allowance under the State's Ladli Behna Scheme "if they are given money in some other scheme".

"If you are running two schemes, then they should get the benefits of both of them. I am saddened to see the conditions here," he said.

Asked about other tragedies, such as the deaths of children in neighbouring Chhindwara due to an adulterated cough syrup last year and Indore's water contamination-related deaths earlier this year, Mr. Gandhi said, "There is complete government failure in Madhya Pradesh. You see it wherever you go. It's a 100% government failure."

No access to healthcare

In Balaghat's Birsa block, once rife with Naxalism, more than 30 children have died since July, due to a number of infectious diseases such as measles, malaria, respiratory illness, malnutrition, anaemia, and dehydration. The State government has so far approved compensation for the families of 32 deceased children.

Even though the authorities have blamed the locals' dependence on practices like faith healing, the affected families have alleged a lack of access to hospitals, saying that healthcare professionals do not come to their villages in the remote areas.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi blamed the "RSS-BJP mindset" for the issues faced by the tribal community in the State.

"These troubles of Madhya Pradesh's tribals are part of that BJP-RSS mindset which does not see them as India's original owners, but as forest-dwellers. It wants to snatch not just water, forests, and land, but also education, employment, and dignity, and in its arrogance, it refuses to listen to anything," he wrote on X.

'Free of Naxalism'

M.P. BJP president Hemant Khandelwal, however, hit out at Mr. Gandhi, blaming the Congress for the lack of development in Balaghat.

"Under the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ji, Balaghat is moving forward in the direction of education, health, and infrastructure development, free from Naxalism," Mr. Khandelwal said in Bhopal. "Rahul Gandhi should also come to Madhya Pradesh and explain under whose rule Naxalism flourished? Did he ever visit the family members of then-Congress government Minister Lakhiram Kawre ji to console them after his brutal murder by Naxals? Who was responsible for Balaghat's backwardness? Rahul Gandhi should also provide answers to these questions," he added.